Life Starts Now
by dawn mae
Summary: Twins Bella and Emmett are Specials - humans with abilities.  So are the Cullen children. Of course, they don't know this, so it's all secrets. For now. But what happens when a past danger isn't lingering so far behind anymore? And will love bloom?
1. Bitter Taste

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.**

**Read on, my lovelies!**

**"Life Starts Now"**

"_Your name, your face is all you have left now  
>Betrayed, disgraced, you've been erased<br>So long, so long I have erased you  
>So long, so long I've wanted to waste you<br>So long, so long I have erased you  
>I have escaped the bitter taste of you<em>"

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Bitter Taste<strong>

**Bella Swan**

"Emmett!" I yelled. "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there, Bells!" he shouted back, leaning away from the trunk of our mom and step-father's SUV.

I shook my head at his booming voice and turned back to my mom.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she said, attempting to hold back her tears.

"I know, Mom, I'll miss you, too."

A few crystalline tears dropped from her eyes. "Oh, my babies! I miss you both already!"

I nearly rolled my eyes, but managed to restrain myself. I knew this wasn't the time for my sarcasm. "It's not like we're leaving you forever, Mom, we're just going to live with Charlie. Besides, you know you want to be able to travel with Phil."

"I do, baby," she sniffed, "but I'm going to miss you two so much."

I sighed as our flight was called. "I love you, Mom."

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. I felt almost bad for not crying, but I wasn't really big on emotions. Especially showing them. She pulled me into a tight hug and repeatedly whispered "I love you" into my ear. I hugged her back tightly, remembering the feel of my mother's warm embrace. Hey, I may not have been big on emotions, but that didn't mean I didn't love my mother.

Phil stepped in, "Renée, you have to let her go or they're gonna miss their flight."

I looked at him with grateful eyes, silently thanking him. He nodded back at me. Finally, Mom released me from her death grip. I was so happy that Phil had said something, because if he hadn't, I had a feeling that she would have never let me go.

Renée wiped her eyes as Emmett walked over to us, carrying his luggage along with one of my bags. He dropped his hold on the stuff and pulled Renée into one of his infamous bear hugs. Seriously, I call him Emmy-Bear for more than just his bear-like appearance. He actually did resemble a bear with his impressive physical features. He was huge—bulky, muscular and tall, but in no way fat. I don't mean 6' tall, either. I'm talking 6'5 here. He has short, thick, curly dark brown hair, the same color as mine, and his deep blue eyes nearly always sparkled with mirth.

As he pulled away from Renée, he grinned at her, revealing his child-like dimples. When people first see Emmett, they automatically assume that he's some sort of badass, rebel, hooligan that's going to go on a killing rampage or something. But he's not even close to being like that, though he does love pranks. He may be "scary" on the outside, but he's really just a kid at heart and you can see that when he smiles.

Physically speaking, it was hard yet so easy to tell that Em and I were twins. Hard, because if you look at us quickly, you can't really tell. Sometimes people mistake us as a couple. Emmett and I used to be completely disgusted when people thought that, but now we just have fun with it—make a joke and make people seem like complete idiots when they realize that we're definitely not dating.

Easy, because if you actually take the time to look at us, it's like the most obvious thing in the world. We were both naturally tall and quite muscular to be honest. He was obviously bigger than I by a mile, but still. I wasn't that tall at 5'7, but most girls around me were 5'4 or less, so I classified myself as fairly tall for a female of my age. I wasn't bulgingly muscular like Emmett, and I wasn't grotesquely muscular either—not at all like those bodybuilder women you see; _yuck_—but I could hold my own and kick some serious ass. I was mostly just toned really well, I guess.

I had done kickboxing during my youth, thanks to my dad, Charlie, being a protective police officer of a father. If Emmett didn't have his special advantage, I'd probably be able to take him down. I had curves in the "right places" as the few females friends I'd had told me, along with my mother—wide hips with a narrow waist—and my pale legs were long. Like _really_ long. People often told me I was beautiful, gorgeous, stunning even, and although I accepted their compliments with a smile plastered on my face, I wasn't so sure about that. I accepted that I was pretty, but I didn't see myself as the strikingly beautiful supermodel type.

Despite our muscular, tall builds making us look a like, our eyes tell a different story. While his are that sweet deep, sapphire blue color, mine are chocolate brown rimmed with a pretty gold color. Maybe that's how people mistake us for a couple rather than siblings. But then we have the same deep, dark chocolate brown colored hair. My hair is naturally pin-straight and hangs down to roughly my hipbones, but when it's in waves, or curls, it goes to just below my waist.

Our facial features are somewhat similar, but at the same time, nothing alike. I was given mostly my mother's features—heart-shaped face, thin nose, and slightly almond-shaped eyes—while Emmett got our father's features—face slightly square with roundish eyes—minus the dimples. Honestly, we're not really sure where those came from—Granny Swan, maybe?—but they should be illegal when Emmett's trying to get his way. All he has to do is whip out the dimples and there's pretty much no way to deny him what he wants. That's another similarity between the two of us. While I don't have dimples, I do have what Emmett calls "the best puppy dog eyes and pout known to man." He once told me that no one can possibly resist or deny me what I want when I bring out my pout, let alone when I add in the watery, puppy dog eyes.

Emmett and I also both share the same ultra pale white skin, though his is a tad darker than mine, but hardly, and the trait of never being able to tan without burning. We lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and we're nearly pale enough to be albinos. There must be some sort of dysfunctional gene somewhere in us.

But we already knew that.

"I'm gonna miss ya, Mommy," Emmett whispered. He was such a kid at heart, but definitely didn't come off as one. He turned to me and said, "Let's go, Bella Boo, the plane's going to leave without us if we don't hurry up." He picked up his luggage.

I grabbed my own bags and smiled at Renée and Phil. "Love you, Mom," I mumbled, lightly hugging her once more. "Bye, Phil." I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you, Mom. See ya, Phil," Em said.

Emmett and I made our way through the crowd of people gathered at the airport. People here, there, and everywhere saying hello and goodbye to their loved ones as they embraced and smiled and laughed.

We were quick to board the plane, and soon we were ascending into the sunny sky.

I pulled out my beat-up blue second generation iPod nano and hit play. As the opening rifts of _Hearts Burst Into Fire _began, I leaned my head against Emmett's shoulder. I glanced up at him and saw that he was starting to listen to his own old green iPod. He smiled down at me and I smiled back, then looked down and closed my eyes. I felt as he leaned his own head ontop of mine.

He wasn't just my brother, nor was he simply my twin; he was my best friend. He was overprotective, childish, obnoxious and silly, but he was my brother. He and I hardly ever fought. We agreed on pretty much everything; food—most of the time—sports, cars... He always knew how to make me feel better, whether it was a hug I was in desperate need of, someone to talk to, or just an ice cream cone, he knew. And I knew that I was the same for him.

God, I loved my brother.

As I drifted off into a dreamless slumber, I began mentally preparing myself for the dreary, rainy town of Forks.

"Bella," I heard a distant voice say as I was shaken lightly. "Bellllaaa."

I groaned and mumbled a nearly unintelligible, "What?"

I heard the voice chuckle. It was a familar, deep laugh. "Get up, Bella Boo."

"Five more minutes."

I could practically hear the person roll their eyes. "Seriously, Bells, the plane has already landed and we're gonna be left on here if we don't get our crap and get off soon."

I opened my eyes and squinted as they adjusted to the brightness. Groggily, I said, "I slept through the whole flight?"

Emmett nodded. "Yeah. I did, too, but my headphones fell out when I was asleep, so when the plane landed and everyone started moving, the noise woke me up."

"Oh," I said softly. I got up out of my seat and stretched. I yawned as I ran a hand through my tangled locks, then sighed. "By the way, Em, the flight attendents and pilots aren't going to lock us on the plane—they come and scope for people, smart stuff."

He grinned his innocent, dimply grin at me. "I know, Bell."

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my stuff and pushed passed him. When I heard no footsteps following my movements, I spun around and raised an eyebrow at him, "Coming?"

He grabbed his own items and caught up to me, then grinned. "Yeah, yeah, c'mon sis," he said, mussing my hair.

"Emmett," I snapped, glaring at him as I slapped his broad chest with my free hand. "Non toccare i miei capelli," I growled. I wasn't a girly-girl, therefore I did not care when my hair got messed up, but I had a thing about people touching it. I don't know why, but I simply hated it. It bothered me without reason. Well, unless I was going to sleep, then I found it suddenly soothing, but when I'm awake...no touchy.

Emmett replied, "Siamo spiacenti, Bells."

You could probably already figure it out by now, but in case you haven't, we're Italian. If my name being Isabella couldn't help you out there, then I'm sure that Em and I speaking flawless Italian would probably be a dead giveaway. Both Renée and Charlie's sides of the family were Italian, and we had grown up for the first six years of our lives listening to it all around the house and we easily picked it up. But that was before they got a divorce.

Charlie and Renée were high school sweethearts. They were married straight out of high school and became pregnant not long after with me and Emmett. They were young and scared, but excited beyond belief. They were in love. The first few years were great, but when we turned five, things began getting a little shaky in their marriage, and a few months after our sixth birthday, they got a divorce. Renée took both Emmett and I with her to Arizona. We went to Forks and visited Charlie each summer until we were twelve. Then, we became sick of it, and instead, we spent the summer with Charlie in California or other various places around the world. We'd gone to Italy, Paris, Greece, Australia, and a few other places. Charlie never really got over Renée until she remarried and he realized that she was never going to come back to him. I knew he still loved her, but he was happy for her and had even dated around a little now.

I rolled my eyes again and huffed. "Let's go."

After we made our way through the crowded Port Angeles airport and retrieved our luggage, we practically ran outside.

For a town so small, even though Port Angeles was still larger than Forks, there were way more people in the airport than there should be.

Renée had both of our cars shipped over from Phoenix to our new home in Forks. We were thinking about having Emmett's brought to the airport, but decided on allowing Charlie to pick us up instead. So when we walked out of the airport and saw Charlie standing there, waving madly at us with a bashful grin underneath of his mustache, it was no surprise. He looked like he did years ago, still quite young for his age with light wrinkles dawning his face.

When he grinned at us, his eyes crinkled and I could tell why Renée had fallen for him so easily. He looked so much more youthful and happy when he smiled like that.

"Hi, Dad," I said, not even breathless though I had just run across an entire airport, lugging my bags with me.

"Daddy!" Emmett boomed as he caught up. If he had been smaller, it wouldn't have surprised me if he had dropped his bags and launched himself into Charlie's awaiting arms.

But life wasn't like the movies. Emmett was at least double Charlie's size in muscle, and a few inches taller than him. So that wasn't a very likely thing to happen. At least not without killing Charlie, or maybe just breaking something of his. Probably his back.

Charlie pulled me into a warm, fatherly embrace and I returned it wholeheartedly. I may not have been one for emotions—I got that from Charlie—but I still hugged the life out of my dad when I saw him, especially after so long. I really loved him; he was the greatest dad out there. I pulled away and Emmett scooped Charlie up into his arms.

When Em finally let him go, he coughed, "I've missed you kids."

Emmett grinned, "Aw, Daddy, ya missed me? Don't worry, I'll be here forever and ever. You'll _never_ get rid of me."

Charlie actually looked slightly frightened. Probably for his life.

_Don't worry, Charlie, I would be, too._

"I've missed you, too, Dad. It's great to see you," I said honestly.

He smiled.

I picked up my bags again and Charlie's smile fell into a frown.

"Emmett," Charlie chastised. "You made Bella carry all of her bags? Couldn't you at least help her with one?"

"Hey, Pops, it's not my fault. Baby Bell over here has a six pack. She can handle it on her own."

Charlie looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Six pack, huh?"

I bit my lip and nodded nonchalantly. "Sorta," I shrugged. "Just toned abs. All thanks to you for getting me into kickboxing and Mom for shoving me into dance."

I used to be such a weakling, not to mention clumsy as hell—thank God for _my_ 'special advantage'. Swan being my last name did _not_ suit me. Now, it was much different. I had toned abs, defined biceps and every other muscle because of kickboxing and dance, even though when people see me no one suspects that I would have the muscles that I do. Renée had put me into ballet when I was only three years old to help enhance my balance and grace. It worked. I was now really graceful and could dance quite well, to be honest. I was agile, lithe and a very fast runner.

Yeah, I'm not always the most modest person around.

When I was first put into dance, I hadn't wanted to stay. Although, admittedly, that was mostly because I fell off the stage at my first recital and took half of my class with me, which not only left me to be the laughing stock for ages, but also left all the other kids with a hatred for me. After a while, though, I grew to love it and ended up joining multiple dance classes on top of ballet. I took pretty much every dance you could name.

And then I grew bored of dance and stopped going.

Charlie grinned proudly at me. "No one's getting close enough to touch my baby girl without getting themselves injured or killed."

Emmett waved his hand in a careless manner. "Yeah, yeah, we all know Bella would kick ass if anyone tried to touch her. Can we go now?" His voice took on a whining quality near the end.

We arrived at Charlie's car—or should I say police cruiser?—in record time and quickly loaded our luggage into the trunk.

I grinned to myself, "Shotgun!" I yelled.

Unfortunately, Emmett had the same idea as me and at the exact same time, he yelled, "Shotgun!"

Sometimes being twins was really annoying. We often subconsciously did things in unison.

We glared at one another and slowly inched our way toward the passenger door.

"I called shotgun first!" I said.

"No, I called it first!"

I could hear Charlie's rough chuckle in the background. "How about neither of you get shotgun?" When we turned our glares on him, he continued with a crinkly grin, "You're both sitting in the back. Maybe I'll turn on the sirens and make the townspeople think you're criminals."

I didn't even have to look at Emmett to know that he had an excited grin on his face. Even as a child he adored going in Charlie's cruiser and being driven around with the lights flashing and sirens blaring.

Really, I never understood why he found it so fun and amusing. I just thought it was embarrassing.

Okay, so it was a little fun, but I'm grown up now.

I nearly snorted at myself for that one. I could easily be one of the most immature people ever. But eh, at least I know _when_ to be mature.

When we saw that Charlie was most definitely not joking around, we simultaneously released sighs and clambered into the back of the police cruiser, me grumbling profanities under my breath, while Emmett had a huge grin on his face.

As we seated ourselves, I released a large yawn.

Emmett looked at me. "You still tired?"

I nodded, "Apparently."

He patted his lap, "C'mon."

I grinned and slid over to him, then laid down on the seat and placed my head in Emmett's lap.

He smiled back and kissed my forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I mumbled tiredly.

It wasn't long before I was lost in dreamland.

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><p><strong>AN: What do you all think of this so far? I know it's not a very long chapter, but I've already got the next couple set to be uploaded. But I'm only going to upload if I get enough reviews, so you may want to leave one if you enjoyed this chapter. Things will get more interesting as the story goes on—don't worry, it's not all fun and games—but I had to set things up. I know Bella's quite OOC, and the others will be too, but I'm still keeping them as themselves, y'know? (that makes no sense, but whatever ;))**

**I will be putting links up on my profile to go with this story, as well. Chapter songs, pictures, etc.**

**In case you care to know, here are the translations:**

**Non toccare i miei capelli - **_**Don't touch my hair**_**  
>Siamo spiacenti, Bells - <strong>_**Sorry, Bells**_

**(I speak no Italian, so if these translations are wrong, blame Google Translate, not me).**

**Please review!**

_**- dawn mae**_


	2. Break

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Heroes. Or any of their characters. Or any of the songs. ****Oh, and I also don't own **_**Handy Manny**_** (you'll see what I'm talking about...).**

**Read on, my lovelies!**

**"Life Starts Now"**

"_Break away from everybody  
>Break away from everything<br>If you can't stand the way this place is  
>Take yourself to higher places<em>"

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><p><em>Previously...<em>

_'Emmett looked at me. "You still tired?"_

_I nodded, "Apparently."_

_He patted his lap, "C'mon."_

_I grinned and slid over to him, then laid down on the seat and placed my heat in Emmett's lap._

_He smiled back and kissed my forehead. "I love you."_

_"I love you, too," I mumbled tiredly._

_It wasn't long before I was lost in dreamland.'_

_...and now..._

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><p><strong>Chapter Two:<strong>** Break**

**Bella Swan**

"Bells," I heard Charlie's voice say.

I opened my eyes and looked up at his face.

"We're home. I can see that you're really tired, so let's just get you inside and upstairs before you go back to sleep, sweetie."

Sighing, I got up and out of the cruiser, then stretched like never before. I smiled when my bones creaked and cracked. It felt good.

"You done yet, Bells?"

I looked over at Charlie and saw him staring at me with his eyebrows raised in question. I smiled sheepishly and nodded, then went to the back of the cruiser and took out my bags.

"Want some help, Bella?" Emmett asked.

I glared at him and sleepily made my way inside the house. I wasn't the most delightful person to be around when I was tired.

The house looked the same as it always had with it's painted olive green exterior and white trim. There's a total of three floors, if you include the basement/den. The driveway slopes down and leads to the large garage and there's a white picket fence in the front.

I walked up the stairs, Emmett following close behind me, and stopped at the top. There were four doors on the second story. One on the far left, which was Charlie's room, one closer to the right than that-the boy's bathroom; on the other side was Emmett's room, then finally, my bedroom closest to the right. I had a bathroom built into my room because I was the only female in the house.

I went inside my room, lugging my bags along.

My bedroom was painted a soft black color with white accents littered around. My bed had a black frame and silk ivory sheets and matching colored comforter. The floor was light beige carpet and above my bed was a black and white painting of Emmett and I from when we were fourteen. It was the summer that we had gone to Rome with Charlie, and we were standing by the Roman Colosseum. I loved that picture so much.

I pulled my suitcases up and placed them on my bed, breathing a heavy sigh before unzipping the first of them and unloading everything. I did this routine for each of my bags until everything was unpacked and put in its proper spot.

I had put all of my toiletries in my bathroom. It was gorgeous-not too big and not too small. The walls were a light gray and all the accents and such were white with a small amount of black thrown in. I thought it was absolutely breathtaking. For a bathroom, that is.

When everything was away, I collapsed onto my bed, ready to sleep the rest of the day away. I wasn't hungry, so I didn't bother getting myself anything to eat. It was only 5 in the evening, but I was tired, even though I had slept through the flight, as well as on the ride home. I hadn't had much sleep before leaving Phoenix. Actually, I had skipped three full days of sleep, simply packing and thinking things through.

Charlie had told me that Emmett and I would be starting school tomorrow. It sucked, to be honest, and I really wished that we had gotten a flight on Saturday rather than on a Sunday, but it was the best we could get.

With that thought in mind, I fell into a dreamless slumber.

**~O~**

"_I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes  
>I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way<br>Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set  
>I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way (born this way)<em>"

I groaned and rolled over as Lady Gaga's voice came blaring through my alarm clock radio. It was a much better way to wake up compared to an incessant beeping sound. I actually sort of liked Lady Gaga, oddly enough. She had her own style and I found it to be unique.

But then again, everyone is unique. And if everyone is unique, then aren't we just all the same?

Ponder that.

I hit the teasing SNOOZE button on the top of the clock. Stupid button reminded me that I had to go to school this morning. In Forks.

Now, I didn't hate Forks. No, actually, I loved it. I loved the sun and the warmth in Phoenix, but I was also a huge fan of the rain. I loved the smell of the air when it had just rained or the rain was pouring down from the sky. I didn't know why, but the scent of fresh rain comforted me.

If someone were to ask me what my favorite season was, I wouldn't be able to give them one answer. I love all the seasons. I love the snow, therefore I love Winter. The smell of the crisp, cold air when it was snowing, and the way the snow sparkled like a rainbow when the sunlight hit it...it was just amazing. The sight of the snow when it's sprinkled carefully from the sky, having fallen naturally upon the leafless trees is absolutely breathtaking. I like being able to curl up in front of a fire and sip hot cocoa from one of those cheesy #1 DAUGHTER mugs. I like the way my footprints stay in the snow after I walk on it, and I love making snowmen, having snowball fights, and most of all, making snow angels. Winter is beautiful with its serene, peaceful quiet, usually caused by the snowfall. I even love the way you walk inside after having been outside in the cold and your cheeks get that slight sting because of the temperature change, and the warmth from your house or where ever you are engulfs you like a blanket of heat.

But then there's Spring. I love the smell of the lilacs on the bushes, robins pecking in your yard, and the scent that is uniquely Spring. I love the way the trees and flowers all bud and bloom and how the grass gets greener each day. The longer daylight hours and warm, mild weather are amazing. The temperature's hardly ever too hot or too cold, it's nearly always just perfect. The smell of freshly cut grass, tilled earth, and blossoming flowers fills the air and makes you smile. Being able to open the windows and let the fresh air in is nice, too. And the sound of birds singing in the early morning hours is just glorious.

Next up is Summer. It's nice to be able to just hang out by the pool and lay, basking in the enchanting sunlight, and splash around in the water. I love how when the sun goes down, the temperature is just right. Being able to watch the sunrise and sunset becomes much easier in the Summer, which is another thing that I absolutely adore about it. You don't have to be weighed down by layers upon layers of clothes that you've piled on yourself to keep warm, and a summer breeze is just phenomenal. Although I can't get a tan for some reason-my skin just doesn't want to so I end up simply burning-I do still love to lay under the sun and soak it up. I love getting to play sports outside, going to parks and enjoying the outdoors, and I definitely love getting to go to beaches during the Summer months.

Finally, we have Fall. There's so many things that I love about Fall, to be honest. My favorite things would have to be the crisp smell of the air, especially when Halloween comes nearer and there is that strange, unmistakable scent. I have no idea what it is, but it's lovely. The other thing that I really love is the sound of fallen leaves crunching innocently beneath my feet. Pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks are a definite plus as well. Although I have to admit my favorites would be regular vanilla lattes and vanilla bean frappuccinos, but who really cares about that? I adore the way the leaves seem to change color each day, going from green to orange and red to yellow, then brown.

Why I practically just gave you the life stories of each season, I'll never know. My opinions really don't matter that much anyway, since it's Forks and all you really get is rain, rain, and oh, look at that, more rain! Wait, no, you get clouds and the odd bit of sunshine here and there, and some snow, but that's about it. Well, the leaves fall too, but whatever.

I hopped up out of my warm, soft, comfortable bed and silently made a promise to it that I'd be back later.

Yeah, I make promises to my bed, is that a problem for you?

It is? Sorry, I don't care.

I flicked my flat screen TV on and turned it to the Weather Network channel. After a few minutes, the information I was waiting for came on.

"_Today's weather forecast is brought to you in part by Handy Manny Repairs; 'You break it, we fix it.'_

_Hello there, good people of Forks! This is Melanie Addison here to give you your daily forecast. Today, we should be expecting to see a whole lotta sunshine! Later in the afternoon, perhaps early evening, we should start to see clouds roll in and soon after, the sun will be replaced by the all-too-familiar rain. So to all you sun lovers out there: dress appropriately and get outside today to soak up some of the rare-for-Forks natural Vitamin D!_

_Tune in again at 12:00 for the lunch update. We'll bring you any important information that has to do with anything that may be happening around our small town._

_Once again, I'm Melanie Addison; thanks for watching."_

The seemingly cheerful blonde grinned a toothy smile at the camera before it switched to a commerical. Some advertisment promoting some new, lame product. I turned the TV off before I could get distracted by the meaningless, pointless ads. What can I say? I don't care to watch advertisments about things I know I'm not going to buy, just to waste my time.

I sighed happily with a smile on my face as I rummaged through my closet for appropriate school attire. I plucked out a plain white camisole, a see-through fluffy t-shirt in my favorite color-royal blue-and a pair of small, but not slutty, jean shorts that have rips and tears at the hem.

I went into my bathroom and took a quick shower, of course using my favorite peach scented shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. When I was out, I got dressed in the outfit I had chosen and went to do my hair. I left it down in it's usual straight style, then grabbed my curling iron and did pretty curls at the bottom. I didn't really have bangs, since they were the length of my shortest layer, which really wasn't short at all. I didn't bother with makeup - I never did. It was honestly pointless for me. I didn't care to please others with my looks and I didn't care what I looked like. I had naturally long, thick black eyelashes framing my eyes and my pale skin never had any blemishes and seemed nearly translucent. I didn't care for lipgloss or lipstick - my lips were a natural pink and I personally didn't give a crap about the color of someone's lips. Lips were lips.

I waltzed back into my bedroom and to my closet, quickly pulling out a pair of black leather 3" heel knee-high boots and sliding them on. I grabbed my black messenger bag and slung it over my shoulder. It was pretty much completely plain, but it had "Bullet For My Valentine" written in red and white on it. They weren't my favorite band, but I thoroughly enjoy their music. Plus, I saw this bag in a store years ago and fell in love with it immediately. It was a bit worn out from being well-used, but I still loved it and currently refused to part with it.

When I thought I had everything, I went through a mental checklist.

_Bag, check. Supplies, check. iPhone, check. Notebook, check. iPod, che—_

Right, I knew I was forgetting something. How on Earth I managed to forget the thing that was pretty much the most important to me, I'll never know. And yeah, I know it's kind of stupid to have both an iPhone and an iPod, but with how fast iPhone batteries run out and how much I listen to music, it just doesn't work without both.

"Bella!" I heard Emmett yell from downstairs.

"Yeah, Em?" I called back.

"Hurry up!"

"Why? We don't have to leave for another like 45 minutes." I already knew what he wanted, but I felt like toying with him.

"_Bella,_" he whined. "You know why! Now get down here."

I rolled my eyes to myself.

"And don't you roll your eyes at me, missy!"

See what I mean when I said he was not just my brother and twin, but also my best friend? Yeah, he knows literally everything about me, and I him.

Sometimes it creeps me out.

Shrugging again, I snatched up my iPod from beside my laptop where I had it charging all night and smiled when I saw that it's battery was full. I walked out of my room and down the stairs.

"What'd you want, Emmy?" I asked innocently, as if I had no idea.

"Bella, don't do this to me," he cried. "Please!"

I snorted. "Nice, Em, you've now resorted to begging? I thought even you were above that."

"Yeah, but Bells, it's fo—"

"Food, I know," I smirked.

Yeah, when I tell you that he called me down, whined, and begged all because he wanted me to make him some breakfast, I'm not joking. The boy was muscular, not at all fat, but damn did he have one helluva appetite. Then again, I could compete with him, even with my thin, albeit toned, body. I've been asked multiple times throughout my life where I store the food, but I usually just give whoever asked a snarky reply and they drop it.

What can I say? I'm Emmett's sister.

I'm beginning to think that'll be my excuse for everything.

I placed my bag on the kitchen table beside a pouting Emmett and put my iPod on top of it. "Bacon, eggs, sausage, omelets or pancakes?" I asked. Before he had a chance to even reply, I continued, "Who am I kidding? You don't get a choice in the matter since I'm making it. We're having pancakes," I told him, knowing that he would protest and ask for bacon instead.

He pouted at me. "But Bellaaa! I want bacon."

"Too bad, we're having pancakes."

"Bacon."

"Pancakes."

"Bacon."

"Pancakes."

"Pancakes."

I crossed my arms. "Pancakes. God, Em, you should know by now that things like reverse psychology doesn't work on me that easily."

His bottom lip jutted out even further and I could see by the twinkle in his eye that he was getting ready to whip out the dimples.

"No, Emmett, not the dimples!"

He looked at me innocently, "What ever do you mean, Isabella?"

I glared at him. "Don't call me that, Emmett Dale Swan!"

"Well, then don't call me that, Isabella Marie Swan!" he mocked, his lips twitching the slightest bit as he began to grin, revealing the tiniest bit of his dimples. Seriously, after seventeen years of being in the same environment as those damn dimples, I should be immune to them, shouldn't I? But no, of course I'm not.

"Emmett," I said dangerously low, "I'm warning you now. You bring out the dimples, I'm whipping out the pout."

His eyes widened and the smile immediately fell from his face, "Pancakes it is!"

I grinned at him and planted a sisterly kiss on his cheek, "Love you, Em."

He rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead in return, "Love you, too, Bells."

"I know," I replied as I went over to the stove and quickly began making pancakes. We still had another thirty minutes until we had to leave the house, so timewise we'd be fine, but Em and I were the same when we didn't get food—cranky and whiny.

While I made the pancakes, Em and I made light conversation. Nothing important, really. When the pancakes were finished, I scooped them onto separate plates, giving Emmett sixand myself four.

I brought the plates over to the table and grabbed out the syrup. Neither Emmett or I liked anything but syrup on our pancakes, not even butter.

"Did our cars arrive yet?" I asked when I sat down.

He nodded. "Charlie left a note on the fridge this morning." He got up and went to the fridge, then came back and handed me a small piece of paper.

_Bella & Emmett,_ it said in Charlie's clumsy scrawl.

_Your cars came last night, but you were both asleep when they arrived and I didn't want to disturb you, so I didn't bother waking you up. I left the keys on the hooks by the front door, beside the coat closet._

_I hope you both have a great first day at school._

_Behave, Emmett._

I began snickering as I read that, but when Emmett smirked at me and said, "Continue reading," with smugness in his voice, I stopped.

_You, too, Isabella._

_Love you both,_

_Dad_

_P.S. Don't worry, I made sure your babies were parked in the garage, away from the rain._

I pouted. "Unfair. I didn't do anything. You're the bad child, Emmett, not me."

He snorted. "Yeah, right, Bella. You know you're just as bad, if not worse, than me."

I pursed my lips, "True, true."

It didn't take us long to finish eating breakfast. When we were done, I was about to get up and clean off our plates when Emmett stopped me.

"Let me get that, Bells."

"I can do it," I replied.

He shook his head, "It's only fair I clean since you cooked."

I sighed, giving up, and he smiled in victory. "Yeah, Em, feel victorious that you get to clean dishes."

His grin widened, this time revealing those adorable dimples of his. He always told me that with my beauty, it would be hard to keep guys away from me, but honestly, _I_ was going to have a difficult time keeping the sluts away from _him_. Seriously, it was hard enough at our school in Phoenix. He practically hid behind me half the time, trying to get away from the pursuing females. It's not my fault that nearly every girl, and guy, had been afraid of me (they were scared of Emmett, too, though mainly the males). Really, what was I supposed to do about it? Befriend them? As if. They were all just so...mundane. Sure, we did actually have a few friends...but when I say 'few', I literally mean _few._ And even they were more like acquaintances.

He grabbed the plates from me and quickly cleaned them off, then turned back to face me.

"Time to go?"

"Time to go," I clarified with a nod of my head.

He sighed. "Damn, I was hoping we could just skip."

"Em, you and I both know we can't just go around skipping school, especially on our first day. What kind of first impression would that make?"

"A good one."

I didn't bother replying as I took my bag and iPod off the kitchen table.

"Let's go, Brother Bear."

Emmett went to the other side of the kitchen table and picked up his plain black backpack. He had on a simple pair of darkwash jeans with a crisp white v-neck tee. It looked really nice on him.

"Aw, my baby's all grown up," I cooed.

"Shut up, Bella."

I grinned as he stomped from the kitchen and into the living room to where the closet was. I trailed behind him, quietly snickering to myself.

"Which car do you want to take? Yours or mine?"

I thought about it for a second before answering, "Yours."

He grabbed a pair of keys off the key hooks and opened the door and gestured for me to go out. I smiled at his gentlemanly ways. He smiled back, his eyes glittering with a happiness that nearly never left.

Emmett followed behind me, then made his way beside me as we reached the garage. He pressed a button on a small remote that was attached to his key chain. The garage doors opened quickly and revealed two precious, beautiful vehicles. A large red Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was stationed beside a sleek pitch black Ferrari F430.

I'm not even a little ashamed to admit that I may have drooled slightly at the sight of my beloved Ferrari.

"Get in before I have to wipe that drool off your face."

Okay, so I guess I actually _did_ drool.

I wiped my face self-consciously and realized that there was no drool.

"I was kidding, Bella."

I murmured a soft, "Oh," before Emmett unlocked the Jeep and I clambered in the passenger door. He hopped in the driver's side and started the engine, then backed out of the garage and pressed the button to shut the door.

The drive to Forks High School didn't take long at all. Much like everything else in Forks, there was hardly any distance between it and our house. And our house wasn't even at the center of Forks. _That's_ how small this town is.

Emmett parked in a space that was marked with one of those "Staff Only" signs and got out of the massive Jeep.

He waited for me to get out, and when I did, we walked together into the small building that we assumed was the office. Well, it wasn't really much of an assumption since it had a sign above the door that clearly stated, in large bold black letters, OFFICE.

Inside was brightly lit and felt like a sauna compared to the humid cold air outside. The room reminded me of a hospital with the white floors, walls, chairs, and desk. Behind said desk sat a plump redheaded woman with a disturbing purple t-shirt and green skirt ensemble.

I immediately decided I liked this woman.

When we got up to the desk, I cleared my throat. "Hi, I'm Bella Swan and this is my brother, Emmett. We're new."

She smiled warmly, then looked down muttering, "Swan, Swan, Swan," under her breath as she flipped through yellow folders. "Ah, Isabella and Emmett?"

I nodded with a smile.

"Oh, Chief Swan's kids. It's a pleasure to meet you two."

"The pleasure's ours," Emmett replied smoothly with _that_ smile.

Damn, he was going to lay the charm on thick at this school. Great. I wasn't just going to have to hide him from the adolescent females of our generation, but most likely the older women, too. Teachers and other staff as well. Ugh, he was really trying to provoke me or kill me or something, wasn't he?

I resisted the strong urge to glare at him.

"Well, I'm Mrs. Cope," the woman replied with slightly flushed cheeks. Huh. She was resisting the charm a lot more than other females do. She was slightly flustered as she said, "Give me a moment to get your schedules." When she went to the back of the room and started flipping through some folders, I turned to Emmett.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Emmett," I hissed. "Don't charm these girls because I'm not going to be there to 'protect' you when they all flock you, okay? I love you and all, but that's really not fair to these girls, seeing as you and I both know you're not going to date any of them."

Emmett had had girlfriends before, but only three. I remember his first girlfriend, Jane. She was a wicked little thing with the meanest glare I had ever seen. Emmett brought her home when we were thirteen. I thought it was cute at first, but agh...that girl was scary, even to me, and I was never scared of anything. She looked so cute and innocent on the outside with her shoulder-length blond hair and bright blue eyes. Believe me, though, that's just a facade. But enough about the evils of Jane for now.

His second girlfriend was when we were fourteen—yeah, Janey didn't last very long. She was a rather nice girl named Gianna. But she was almost too nice. And shy. She was actually a great girl, but just didn't fit for Emmett with his outgoing and childish personality.

Now his third girlfriend, Heidi, was beautiful. She had medium-length dark red hair that was almost brown and her eyes were a soft blue with hints of grey in them. She was tall, which was good for Emmett seeing as he had always been extremely tall. They only dated for a little while, though, because they had met when we were in California one summer—we were almost sixteen at the time—with Charlie. A simple summer fling.

Me, on the other hand, nothing. I've never had a boyfriend or even gone on a date. It's not like I haven't had offers, because—not to toot my own horn or anything—I've had plenty, but it's not the easiest thing to do when you've got freakish tendencies and an overprotective brother. And his opinion honestly meant the world to me. I mean, I still have to do things he doesn't approve of sometimes, but I try my hardest not to. Besides, in the case of dating, it didn't really matter because I wasn't interested in any of the guys I had come across. Sure, some of them had been nice looking, but that didn't do it for me. Their personalities had been complete turn offs. They were all either womanizers, douchebags, or just complete perverts. Besides, I'm not really in any rush to date. It's not that big of a deal to me.

Emmett gave me an innocent smile as Mrs. Cope returned with multiple different colored papers in her hand.

"Here are your schedules, a map of the school for each of you, and a sheet that you must have each of your teachers sign." She handed us each a white sheet of paper, a yellow sheet, and a half-sized blue sheet before giving us another friendly grin. "I hope you enjoy your first day. Oh, and welcome to Forks High."

With one more smile thrown her way, Em and I exited the office.

"She was nice," I commented.

Emmett nodded in agreement as we arrived back at his Jeep. We got in and Emmett drove around to the student parking lot. Most of the cars were old and rusty; only one really stuck out and that was a shiny silver Volvo. Emmett parked in a spot a few down from said Volvo.

I grabbed my bag from the floor by my feet and turned to Emmett, "Can I see your schedule?" He handed it to me. I looked over it for a minute before Em asked if we had any classes together. "Yeah, it looks like we have almost all of our classes together, except for second period and fifth period."

He gave an approving nod before grabbing his own bag and hopping out of the car. I opened the passenger door and got out as well. Em came over to me and slung his muscular arm over my shoulder. "What's up first, Bella Boo?"

"English," I smiled because it was my favorite subject.

People gawked at us as we made our way into the school and to the English room. Couldn't they at least have the decency to try to cover up the fact that they were openly staring at us? Perhaps they could pretend to just be casually looking around and just so _happen_ to spot us, the new students. Ugh, sometimes people really pissed me off.

The first three classes went by extraordinarily fast compared to the usual. I was expecting it to be excruciatingly slow, but it was the complete opposite. No one really gathered up the courage to come talk to me, except for two people.

The first was Mike.

"Hi, you're Isabella Swan?" the boy with a chubby face, bland blue eyes, and overly-gelled spiked blond hair asked.

I nodded carelessly. "That's me."

"I'm Mike, Mike Newton."

"That's great, Mike, Mike Newton, but is there a specific reason you're stopping me in the middle of a hallway just to introduce yourself?"

"U-um," he stuttered, his face turning the slightest tinge of red. "I was wondering if you wanna go to dinner and a movie with me on Friday?"

"U-um," I mocked. "I just met you, Mike, Mike Newton, so the answer would have to be no."

"Maybe next week, then? After we get to know each other more."

I glared at him. He flinched and I inwardly smiled. "No. I don't know you, nor do I want to know you, therefore my answer is: no, I will not go out with you. Not now, not ever. So don't bother asking again because my answer's _never_ going to change." With that said, I turned and stormed off.

I knew I was being a bitch to him, but I didn't need these adolescent mundane people as friends. I needed people who actually _understood_ me. People like Emmett and I.

The second was a short bubbly girl with wildly curly light brown hair and blue eyes.

"Hiya, I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jess. You're Isabella Swan, right? Like I totally knew that! Oh em gee, you're like _so pretty._ I heard your brother is Emmett, the really hot new guy with the muscles. Wow, he's like gorgeous. Do you think you could like, set me up with him? I'd totally be your like best friend!" I stared at her blankly, not even blinking as she continued her peppy rant. "You should totally sit with me and my friends at lunch. Oh! Only if your brother comes, too, though, 'cause like, he's just so...yummy!"

I resisted the urge to hit her as I sneered, "Listen here, _Jessica._ You and I will never be friends, got it? I don't like you and I don't want to be your friend. And on top of that, you and my brother will _never ever _be an item, so just stop trying now." I watched in satisfaction as she glared at me and then and ran off. I spun on my heel, only to crash into a broad, solid chest. "Emmett," I mumbled into the chest, then stepped back and smiled up at my brother.

"Ready for lunch, Bells?" He asked, wrapping his arm over my shoulder again.

"Uh huh." I nodded. We began walking toward the cafeteria, people still gawking at us. We ignored it. "So, what did Mrs. Pisano want?"

He shrugged. "She was just wondering how we knew Italian so well, and how we were so fluent in it."

"Oh. So did you tell her that we're Italian?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm."

Our first class had been English, as I've said, but then I had Government while Em had Trigonometry. After that, we both had Italian together. It may have been one of those "Easy A" courses, for us at least, but we both love Italian and take any excuse we can to use it whenever. Italian class was perfect for that.

The moment we entered the building clearly marked CAFETERIA, silence ensued. We pretended we didn't notice as we strolled to the lunch bar and grabbed some food. I took an apple and a lemonade. Just because I could, and usually do eat a lot, doesn't mean that I'm constantly consuming piles of food. I wasn't really that hungry at the moment. After Emmett got his food, we turned around. All eyes were on us. It was sort of eerie, how quiet the room was. I spotted an empty table at the back of the room and eyed it. Emmett followed my line of sight and nodded slightly. We made our way over to the table, the only sound was the graceful clicking of my heeled boots echoing throughout the room. We plonked down in the hard plastic chairs, and immediately the room was filled with noise.

"That was..." Emmett started.

"Creepy," I finished.

Nodding, he said, "Very," he shuddered dramatically.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

As we began eating, my eyes starting scoping the room. Jocks, cheerleaders, preps, emos, skaters, pretty people who didn't look like they fit in at all, bandies, geeks/nerds, loners, goths.

My eyes strayed back to the pretty people.

There were four people sitting at the table, even though it was clear they could fit a lot more. It seemed that people stayed away from them as much as possible, although they looked like they were the most beautiful people in the school. There were two females and two males. The females were complete opposites, one was a statuesque girl with golden blonde hair in waves down to the middle of her back. She had a body to die for with curves in all the right places and she even looked like she was taller than me. You know how I said "strikingly beautiful supermodel type" earlier? Well, this girl is quite literally the definition of that.

The second female was short, that was clear even though she was sitting, with jet black hair down to about her chin that was flicked out at the ends in a cute style. Even she had a great body for someone so tiny. She was thin in the extreme, though she didn't look anorexic—her height, or lack of, made up for that—and she reminded me of a pixie.

The males were both good looking, even I'd admit that. The first was sitting beside the small pixielike girl. He was lean, muscular, and I could tell that he was tall. His hair was a shaggy, wavy honey-blond and went down to about his ears, but looked great on him. He was extremely handsome, and looked as if he could be related to the blonde girl.

The second male, and the last occupant of the table was tall and lanky, more boyish than the blond guy, but still looked to be very nicely equipped with muscle. His hair was dishevelled and the strangest color I had ever seen. It was brown and blond with hints of red in it. Sort of a coppery color. Bronze, perhaps? He had a strong jaw and high cheekbones.

None of them were tanned, though that was to be expected of the people living in Forks, and overall, the people at the table were very beautiful.

"Who are they?" I muttered under my breath.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh, ho ho! Did Bella spot the Cullens? *gasp* I think she did! What is going to happen? You may be surprised. Tune in next time to see what happens on Life Starts Now. Woot woot!**

**Once again, everything's on my profile, and please leave a...**

**REVIEW!**

_**- dawn mae**_


	3. World So Cold

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but a sweet MacBook Pro (which, by the way, has a very terrible crack on the bevel/frame and needs replacing - any takers?) and these amazingly delicious sugar cookies. But unfortunately, I don't own the recipe to those...so I suppose I don't technically own those either. But I do own a **_**box**_** of them!**

**Read on, my lovelies!**

**"Life Starts Now"**

"_Living in a world so cold, wasting away  
>Living in a shell with no soul, since you've gone away<br>Living in a world so cold, counting the days  
>Since you've gone away, you've gone away<em>"

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_'None of them were tanned, though that was to be expected of the people living in Forks, and overall, the people at the table were very beautiful._

_"Who are they?" I muttered under my breath.'_

_...and now..._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: World So Cold<strong>

**Bella Swan**

Em turned to look at me, apparently having heard what I said, "Who are who?"

"Them." I subtlely pointed to their table.

"Oh. I _think_ those are-um, shit, what'd that dude tell me? Oh yeah! I think they're the Cullens."

"There's something..._off_ about them."

"Tell me about it. I ran into the blonde guy this morning and the second his skin touched mine it was like I was instantly calm. It freaked me out."

"So he's like a walking chill pill?"

He gave me a funny look, but answered nonetheless, "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way. You don't think..." he trailed off with wide eyes.

I knew exactly what he meant. "No," I answered. "Well...maybe. I mean, it's possible."

"But probably not."

I sighed, shrugging. "It's not likely, but then again there are a lot more of us than we originally thought."

He looked at me understandingly. "You're right, Bell. We'll just pay attention and see if we notice anything _peculiar_, okay?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Good, 'cause I remember when we first met Sy—"

The bell rang, cutting Emmett off and signalling the end of the lunch period.

"That was quick," he said.

"It was. But on the bright side, we have Music next!" I grinned.

He grinned back, "That we do, little sis, that we do."

"Emmett, you do realize that I'm only 37 seconds younger than you are, right?"

"You're still younger than me."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Hardly."

"I'm still older."

"I'm still better."

"You so are not."

"Yeah, I am, Emmett."

"No, you're n—"

I cut him off, "I really am. Now let's go to class."

"Oh, hell yeah, we have Music!" He did a victory fist pump in the air, completely forgetting about what we had previously been talking about.

"Oh God, Emmett," I shook my head. "How am I not ashamed of being related to you yet?"

"Because you _looove_ me," he sang.

"You're right. I do love you, Emmett."

Smiling at me, he said seriously, "I know, Bella Boo, and I love you too."

I sighed. "You just _had_ to ruin that moment by making that intentionally rhyme, didn't you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You know it, sista."

I put my index finger and thumb close together. "Yeah, now I'm like _this_ close to being ashamed, Emmett. You might want to quit while you're ahead."

"Bu—" he started.

I shook my head at him. "Don't even bother, Em, don't even bother." I sped up in front of him and quickly made my way to the music room.

Emmett caught up to me as I walked through the door of the room. He pouted. "That was just plain rude, Bella."

"Sorry, Em."

"No, Bella, you're not sorry. You really hurt my feelings back there."

I stuck my bottom lip out in my "dangerous" pout, widened my eyes and made them well up with tears. "I'm sorry, Emmy. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings—honest. I love you," I said in a quiet voice while shuffling my feet nervously.

His eyes were as wide as saucers, making him look like a deer caught in headlights. This was the reaction I got from everyone, especially Emmett.

"No fair, Bella!" He whined.

I smirked at him and innocently asked, "What's not fair?"

He glared at me and stalked over to the teacher's small office inside the room mumbling, "Stupid pout should be illegal," under his breath. I smiled to myself and followed behind him happily. I practically skipped the way there.

The music room was nice, and had a small office inside of it made specifically for the teacher, since the school only had one to teach Music class. A woman in her thirties with curly orange hair and wild makeup—bright, colorful eyeshadow, lipstick, and blush—and bright eccentric clothing greeted us when we walked into the office.

"Hello," she said enthusiastically, her lips with bright pink lipstick on them stretching into a wide, friendly grin. "You must be the new students, Emmett and Isabella Swan."

I nodded, smiling, and saw from the corner of my eye that Emmett was just standing there smiling at her like the big teddy bear he is. "That would be us."

"Well, it is an absolute pleasure to meet the both of you. I'm Ms. Garcia, but please just call me Penelope. Come, come," she ushered us into the classroom. When we were in the class, she turned to the students. "Good afternoon everybody. We have new students with us today. These are the Swans, Emmett and Isa—"

I cut her off. "Bella."

She turned to me. "Sorry?"

"I hate being called Isabella. Just call me Bella."

"I think I'll stick with Isabella. It's such a beautiful name."

I glared at her. "Well, okay then, _Ms. Garcia._"

She raised an eyebrow at me, then smiled after a moment. "I'm going to enjoy teaching you, Bella."

"I'm going to enjoy being in your class, Penelope," I smiled back.

She grinned through her pink lipstick and then turned back to the class again. "As I was saying, this is Emmett and _Bella_ Swan. Be nice to them, make friends, yada yada yada. What do you say we do a little Q 'n' A with them quickly?" When the class nodded enthusiastically, she smiled. "State your name, then ask your question."

"Your name's Bella, right? I'm Nathan. Are you Italian?" a boy with red hair and blue eyes asked.

"Si, siamo italiano."

"Uh...what does that mean?" He asked confusedly.

"'Yes, we're Italian,'" Emmett intervened.

A girl with black hair and very light brown eyes raised her hand next. "My name's Mira. What languages can each of you speak?" Her voice had a really nice Bulgarian accent.

"Well I can speak English, Italian, and French," Emmett said.

"Same," I shrugged.

Emmett smirked. "Come on, Bella, don't be so modest. Tell them _all_ of the languages you can speak."

I glared at him for a minute before sighing. "English, Italian, French, Spanish, German."

Everyone seemed to be pretty shocked at that. What can I say? I like languages. Besides, it's only five and two of them I grew up listening to, and then another two I learned in my years at school, so really, I've only _learned_ one on my own.

Emmett smiled at me.

"I'm Kelsey. What instruments can you play?" asked a very thin girl with dull red shoulder-length hair and huge hazel green eyes.

"I play drums, some bass and a little guitar, and I help Bella with writing songs a little," Emmett told them.

I frowned internally. I hated sounding like I knew so much, but honestly, I _did_ know a lot, so it wasn't like I was lying.

"What about you?" Kelsey's large eyes landed on me.

"Guitar and piano. I also sing and write songs. That's about it," I admitted.

Penelope gave us a surprised smile. "How about you show us some of your musical skills?"

"Uh, yeah, okay."

"What song, Bells?" Emmett asked me.

I shrugged. "How about _Last To Know_?"

He nodded and got on the drums.

I sat at the black piano. "This is an original song we call _Last To Know._"

I started pressing my fingers gracefully to the ivory keys.

_He just walked away  
>Why didn't he tell me?<br>And where do I go tonight?  
>This isn't happening to me<br>This can't be happening to me  
>He didn't say a word<br>Just walked away_

_You were the first to say  
>That we were not okay<br>You were the first to lie  
>When we were not alright<em>

_This was my first love  
>He was the first to go<br>And when he left me for you  
>I was the last to know<em>

_Why didn't he tell me  
>Where to go tonight?<br>He didn't say a word  
>He just walked away<em>

_You were the first to say  
>That we were not okay<br>You were the first to lie  
>When we were not alright<em>

_This was my first love  
>He was the first to go<br>And when he left me for you  
>I was the last to know<em>

_I'll be the first to say  
>That now I'm okay<br>And for the first time  
>I've opened up my eyes<em>

_This was my worst love  
>You'll be the first to go<br>And when he leaves you for dead  
>You'll be the last to know<em>

_I'll be the first to say  
>That now I'm okay<br>And for the first time  
>I've opened up my eyes<em>

_This was my worst love  
>You'll be the first to go<br>And when he leaves you for dead  
>You'll be the last to know<em>

When we finished, the entire class, Penelope included, sat there staring at us with mouths wide open.

I snorted quietly and heard Emmett do the same.

Penelope snapped out of her stupor and clapped, the rest of the class followed. "Bravo, bravo. I am extremely impressed with the two of you," she grinned. "Go ahead and take your seats now."

Em and I quickly scurried from the front to the back and plopped down in a couple of empty seats together.

"Now _that_ is how it is done, people," Penelope said to the class. "Today we'll be..."

Music class went by really fast. Too fast for my liking. I loved music and thoroughly enjoyed the class itself. Penelope was hilarious and such a nice woman. It was hard not to like her. She was by far my favorite teacher of all time. After Music, I had Trigonometry while Emmett had Government. We bid one another goodbye and parted, going in different directions.

Trig was quick, too. For that, I was thankful. The class went something like this:

"Do you want to introduce yourself?" Mr. Varner, a rotund balding man, asked as he sat behind a wooden desk in the classroom, stuffing back donuts in a 'stealth' manner, after I had my sheet signed by him.

"Nope," I answered, popping the 'p'.

He looked at me. "That wasn't a question."

I raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you not say 'please introduce yourself' or something similar to that? You know, politely tell me to introduce myself, not ask me to introduce myself when you're just going to say that I have to do it anyway. What's the point in asking if I want to introduce myself if I don't actually have a choice in the matter?"

He blinked.

I strolled over to a random desk and sat down with a smile on my face.

He glared at me the entire class.

I glared back with my signature glare that Emmett, and the few _friends_ I knew back home, told me could make even grown men cower in fear.

Clearly I'm an expert at pouting and glaring.

Well now aren't I just the most gifted one out there?

Emmett met me at the gymnasium doors for our last class of the day. I changed quickly into a pair of black shorts—longer than the ones I had on today—with a white t-shirt that has the Forks High School logo on the left breast and on the back, it has "SWAN" written in a bold black font with the number "17" in gold below it. I pulled on my white Nike running shoes and threw my long tresses into a high, messy ponytail before going into the gym.

An arm was thrown over my shoulder. "Let's go have the teach sign our papers," Emmett said as he directed me over to where the teacher stood.

When we got to him, I said, "Hi, we're the Swans. Um, we need you to sign our papers."

He nodded. "I'm Coach Clapp, but uh, you can just call me Coach," he said as he signed the sheets. He was tall with a fairly athletic build and very short jet black hair, and was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He gave us the papers when he was done and smiled. "Welcome to my class. Just go on and take a seat over on the bleachers and I'll be over in about ten minutes to explain everything. I just have to get things sorted out. Y'know, new students and all."

Emmett and I casually walked over to the bleachers. They were wooden and pulled out from the wall. We went to the top of them and sat down.

I sighed. "How do you like Forks High?"

Em looked at me and shrugged. "It's fine. Nothing special."

I nodded in agreement. I was bored so I dug into the zip-up pocket of my shorts and snatched out my iPod. I turned on _Hate Me_ by Blue October. I turned it up to the point where I could no longer hear things around me. I looked at Emmett and saw that he was pouting. I sighed and took out my right headphone and gave it to him. He smiled at me. I leaned back and closed my eyes, attempting to block out the noise from around me that was now entering through my right ear. I turned the song up a little louder and waited until I was lost in the music. I hummed along happily.

"_Hate me today, hate me tomorrow. Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you_," I sang under my breath. "_Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow. Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you_."

As the song quieted, drifting to an end, I heard a throat clear in front of me. I pursed my lips and let the next song come on, ignoring the person who I assumed was either Jessica or Mike, Mike Newton.

I lost myself once again in the music. This time, it was Nickelback's _Far Away_. They were one of Emmett's favorite bands, as well as mine. I knew a lot of people hated them now for some reason, which was strange to me because they used to be majorly popular and then suddenly nearly everyone hates them, but I was my own person and I didn't care what others thought. I'd never been one to follow the crowd.

"_So far away, been far away for far too long, so far away, been far away for far too long. But you know, you know, you know..._" Unconsciously, I began singing louder. I hadn't even realized I started doing it until Em nudged me in the side with his elbow. "Jesus, Em, for someone so muscular, you sure have a boney elbow," I muttered to him. I heard a light, tinkling giggle that sounded oddly musical and my eyes opened on their own accord only to look straight into a pair of excited brown eyes. I quirked an eyebrow at the small girl that stood in front of me, her face inches from my own.

Her brows furrowed. "Why didn't you jump back?"

"Why would I?"

"I was randomly standing very close to you—it's a normal human reaction."

I shrugged.

"Oh, well," she said lightly, stepping back. "Hi, I'm Alice Cullen." She stuck her tiny, dainty hand out.

I grasped it carefully and shook it for a second before pulling back. "Bella Swan."

"Nice to meet you," she smiled. "Who is that?" she pointed beside me.

"That's just Emmett," I replied.

She grinned at me again, since Em's eyes were closed much like mine had been before. "Just a minute, I'll be right back." She loped down the steps with graceful movement after graceful movement.

I closed my eyes again. "_I must be running out of luck, 'cause you're just not drunk enough to fuck. And now I've had it up to here. I don't, I don't want you_..." I sang lightly. "..._wake up, I'm pounding on the door, I'm not the man I was before. Where the hell are you when I need you?_"

"Bella," I heard Alice's high soprano voice.

"Hi, again," I said as I opened my eyes, only to see that it wasn't just Alice anymore. She was now with the other three people that she had been sitting with at lunch time.

"I want to introduce you to my family," she grinned happily. "Bella, this is my sister Rosalie," she directed my attention to the beautiful blonde girl.

"Hello."

She looked at me boredly. "Hi."

The blonde boy—the walking chill pill—looked at me politely. "I'm Jasper, Rose's brother and Alice's boyfriend," he said with a charming southern drawl.

I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"And this," Alice said, "is my brother, Edward." She pointed to the last of the people, the boy with the weird messy hair.

He was staring at me. Wait, no. He was _glaring_ at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him and glared back harshly. He looked momentarily shocked that I actually had the nerve to...fight back. _That's right, pretty boy, I'm not afraid of you._

"So, Bella, did I tell you before that you have an amazing voice?" Alice's voice interrupted.

I increased my glare for a moment before releasing him and allowing my eyes to flick over to Alice. "Nope."

"Oh. Well, your voice is...wow," she told me, smiling.

"Thanks."

"Who's he?" Rosalie asked, looking at Emmett with a little distaste in her voice and expression.

I looked over at my brother and smirked as I realized he'd dozed off. I leaned down to his ear and whispered, "Em, wake up, Sugar Loaf's in danger," in a frantic voice.

Emmett jerked up, awake. "Sugar Loaf? Is he okay?" he looked at me with wide, sleep, disoriented eyes.

I snorted which caused him to glare at me. "What?" I asked, laughing.

"You used Sugar Loaf against me!" he said angrily. "How dare you, Bella?"

"I'm sorry, Emmett," I said. "I'm apologize deeply for using a stuffed snow leopard against you."

Alice came closer and looked at me in disbelief. "He's that frantic over a _stuffy?_"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It'd be funnier to you all if you actually knew the story of Sugar Loaf."

"Then tell us," she smiled.

I sighed and looked at Emmett with a hopeful expression. "Please?"

He glared at me.

"I'll use the pout, Emmett. Don't think I won't, because I will."

He raised a brow. "I'll use the dimples."

"You love me too much," I grinned cheekily. "Besides, I can just tell them the story myself then. I just thought I'd be nice and allow you to relive it. But, I mean, if you would rath—"

He cut me off. "Fine, I'll tell them."

I smiled as Emmett turned to face the Cullens.

"When I was seven, I was at an arcade, playing on one of those crane games that you move around and drop to pick up a stuffed animal. I thought that every stuffed animal's name was on the tag, you know, like Beanie Babies, so I looked for it on the snow leopard that I'd gotten, and the tag said Sugar Loaf. I was like 'hmm, that's a strange name for a snow leopard' but I didn't want to change it and hurt his feelings. Five minutes later, I won a clown fish out of the same machine and looked for his name. It was also Sugar Loaf. I thought 'okay, now _that_ is weird'." He looked at me.

"Long story short," I said. "I broke it to him a few hours later that the tag wasn't the animal's name, but the actual manufacturer name."

"But I kept the name for the snow leopard anyway, since it came before the fish. I'm a dork, I know," Emmett finished.

I grinned at my brother.

"So," Alice started suddenly. "How long have you two been together?"

Emmett and I looked at each other with matching sly smiles. I said, "A year," at the same time as he said, "Nine months."

I snapped my head back to him and glared. "We've been together for a _year_, not nine months! How dare you forget how long we've been in a relationship, Emmett? Ugh, you probably don't even love me, you selfish, arrogant, cocky, pig-headed prick!"

His eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, you crazy chick? We've only known each other for eleven months, so it's impossible for us to have been together a year. Besides, we've only been together _for nine months!_"

I lifted my hand and slapped him across the face. But he already knew I was going to do that at on the right cheek and everything, so he easily pretended to get hit even though I didn't touch him at all. It was like one of those scenes from a movie where someone gets slapped, but they don't really because the people are synchronized and the one slaps at the same time as the other moves their head so that they just _look_ like they're being slapped, even though they're really not.

"You bitch," he hissed at me as he got up.

"You're a dick," I told him.

He grabbed my iPod and ripped the headphone. Literally.

I looked at him with honestly shocked, wide-eyes. "Emmett!" I screeched as I jumped onto his back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Shit, sorry, Bella! It wasn't supposed to actually rip them. I just wanted to take the iPod."

I let out a deep breath. "It's okay, Emmett."

He looked at me over his shoulder. "Do you forgive me, Bella-Boo?" he asked, giving me a grin with dimples.

I sighed, my whole body melting in defeat. "You cannot use _those_, Emmett," I pointed out, knowing he'd felt me give up fighting him as soon as I caught sight of his irresistible dimples. "But yes, of course I forgive you, Emmy-Bear. Always."

He smiled wider and swung me off his back, only to wrap his muscular arms around me in a soft hug. He pulled back, kissing the top of my head.

I looked over to see the Cullens looking at us with dumbfounded expressions. Except for Edward, he was still glaring at me.

"What was that all about?" Jasper asked confusedly.

I grinned. "Well, it was _supposed_ to be what we do everytime people mistake as us a couple—fight and bitch each other out—but then Emmett accidentally broke my headphones and we sort of...got off track."

"Wait, so you're not together?" Alice asked.

"Um, no," I answered. "We're siblings—twins, actually."

Her jaw dropped and she looked from me to Em and back again over and over. "Ohh," she said in realization. "How did I even miss that before?"

Emmett shrugged. "Lots of people do."

"Okay, Alice, can I ask you something?" I said.

"Sure."

"Why is your brother glaring at me?"

"I didn't know he was." She looked at him. "Edward! Stop!" she smacked him on the head.

He rolled his emerald eyes and turned to look at Alice. "Sorry," he apologized mockingly.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was cut off by the deep voice of Coach Clapp calling everyone in.

"Sorry for the wait, guys," he said to the class once everyone was seated on the bleachers. "I had to talk to Mrs. Cope and get some stuff sorted out," he sighed. "Alright, well we have a couple of new students joining us today. Please be nice to Isabella and Emmett Swan," he gestured to us, and nearly the entire class turned to gawk at us.

I shifted in annoyance, hating their eyes on me because, well, it _annoyed_ me. "It's just Bella," I told Coach Clapp as politely as I could. Which was actually quite polite. Hey, just because I can be rude and a huge bitch, doesn't mean I don't know when to use the manners my parents taught me.

He nodded once, "Sure." He revealed a basketball from behind his back. "Now, let's get started."

We ended up playing a quick game of basketball, hence the basketball...ball...and Emmett and I were put onto the same team. Rosalie was also on our team, but the other three, Edward included (thankfully) were on the opposite team.

We obliterated them. Well, we beat them...not by a ton, but we still beat them, which made me feel proud and victorious.

Our team won 17-10. Rosalie was a surprisingly good basketball player for a girl with as much beauty as she has. I mean, she looks like she gracefully sauntered off of a _Sports Illustrated_ magazine cover, but she's like a tank on the court. Alice... Well, it should probably be illegal for Alice to step foot on a basketball court. She was one of the most graceful people I've seen, but that girl couldn't play basketball to save her life. She actually did get one basket...in her own team's hoop. I laughed at her for about a minute and a half before I saw her beautiful, delicate face glaring at me, her big brown eyes narrowed and her face scrunched in anger. She had quite the cold glare for such a dainty little thing. She could easily pull off being a pixie or a fairy. Hell, she could probably make Tinkerbell look like a masculine girl that's into monster truck rallies. _That's_ how pixielike and innocent Alice looks.

Jasper was good as well, and though I hated to admit it,_ Edward_—I inwardly sneered his name—was actually a rather good basketball player, too.

Emmett was still better than him, though.

Okay, he probably wasn't that much better, but I felt like being childish and pretending that Edward sucked at everything in life.

In the end, the Cullens, Em, and I were all fairly good basketball players. The guys were probably the best—but I think I could squeeze in with them, and probably Rosalie, too—then me, Rosalie, and then Alice. Actually, minus Alice. I don't think she should really be on that list. I loved the girl's pixieness, and even though she's absolutely adorable, I don't think it's safe for other people's health if she's on the court. It's probably not even safe for her own health.

Coach Clapp could have warned Emmett and I before we started playing the game that Alice wasn't a good player. I'll still admit that it was the highlight of my day when Alice somehow managed to trip Emmett's massive form and make him tumble to the ground with a loud, resounding thud.

When the bell rang, signalling the end of the day, I sighed happily. I'd survived my first day of Forks High and didn't even get into trouble with any of my teachers. Not that I ever had...much.

We'd already ended the game by the time the bell went, and we'd just been sitting on the bleachers. We had about five minutes until the end of the school day, and so we went to get changed and then headed back out. I found out that all of the Cullens, except for one bronze-haired boy, were actually pretty cool. Rosalie, though she looked like a model and acted cold, was totally into cars, which had surprised even me. The look on Emmett's face when he heard that was comical to me. But I couldn't blame him. A stunning girl with brains, who likes and can play sports fairly well, _and_ adores tinkering with cars...she's like the complete package. I swear she's Emmett's dream girl.

Too bad she thinks that he's just some oversized beast who hits on girls and uses them, just to throw them away. Well, I think that's what she assumes. I'll have to make sure she sees how he really is—sweet, kind, caring, loving. My Emmy-Bear.

Alice, though obsessed with shopping and fashion, is great, too. She's such a sweet girl, and her energy didn't drop even one point the entire time I was around her. I wouldn't be surprised if she was constantly that energetic.

Sort of like the Energizer bunny...on crack.

Jasper was the complete opposite of Alice—quiet and reserved. But he and Emmett got along great. The two of them kept up conversation and I think I even heard a soft, velvety voice join in at points. It must have been Edward. I also completely understood what Emmett meant by Jasper being a walking chill pill. Just being near him made me a lot more tranquil, and everytime Alice went close enough to Jasper, she stopped bouncing around. Sure, she was still hyper as hyper can get, but at least she wasn't hopping around like some sort of deranged rabbit. Jasper's voice was even calming and soothing; it kind of reminded me more of melting honey.

I quickly said my goodbyes to Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper. I even managed a small smile in Edward's direction.

Okay, that's a lie. It was a glare, but can you really blame me? He was the one who started it.

Yeah, that sounded mature.

Alice invited Em and I to sit with them at lunch tomorrow and I told her maybe. I would have said yes, because even though we're not the type of people who really enjoy having friends, I didn't think it'd hurt to befriend them since they seemed to be quite similar to Em and I in the sense that they didn't seem to want to have other people join in their familial circle. But then there's Edward, who very clearly didn't welcome us to sit at their table. Actually, he probably would have welcomed Emmett with arms wide open. Me, not so much.

I grabbed my bag and told Emmett that I'd meet him at the Jeep. I had to stop at my locker and put some books away first.

I made my way to my locker as quickly as I could. The school was only one floor, seeing as their was only a few hundred kids in the entire school, so I didn't have to go very far. The lockers were all a light grey color, with the exception of a few columns of lockers at the opposite end of the school which were all painted green and chipped. Those were no doubt very old ones, while the grey ones were newer; they looked to be maybe two years old.

I spun the blue dial on the silver lock three times left, 34, two times right, 14, left all the way to 45. It opened with a low-pitched squeak.

I dug through my bag and scavenged out the few textbooks and notebooks that I didn't need to take home, due to me having no homework in those classes, and shoved them into my locker. I only needed to bring home my Trig textbook and I had to write a paragraph about myself for English. I opened up my Trigonometry binder and took out the pieces of paper I needed for my homework. I shoved them into a random page of the textbook and put it into my bag. I decided that I'd just type up my English homework rather than writing it, so I slammed my locker shut and folded the flap of my bag over then headed out of the school and toward the parking lot.

When I was outside, I looked over and spotted Emmett making his way toward me, his face blank. I met him half way, only to have him grab my arm and started dragging me over to his Jeep.

"Emmett," I hissed, pulling myself from his grasp. "What the hell?"

"I overheard the Cullens talking and what they said...it makes me think that they're Specials, Bella," Emmett whispered to me, slightly frantic.

"What do you mean? What were they saying?"

He looked around quickly before returning his eyes to mine and grabbing my wrist lightly. "Come on, I'll tell you in the car."

He pulled me the rest of the way to his Jeep and bounded over to the driver's side, hopping in there as I climbed in on the passenger's side.

"We're in the car now, so tell me," I demanded when we were both settled into our seats.

"Wait until we're further away. I promise I'll tell you in soon, okay?" he said, pulling out of the student parking lot.

I sighed, leaning back in the seat, "Fine."

"Okay," he breathed when we were away from the school. "After class I forgot my bag in the changeroom, so I went to go get it. On my way, I saw the Cullens. I was going to go over and say a quick bye to them, but then I heard our names, so I hid behind the corner and listened in." I gave him a look and when he saw it he stumbled to say, "Yeah, I know it was wrong of me to eavesdrop, but you know you would have done it, too," he smirked a little at me before turning serious again. "Anyway, so I heard Alice asking Edward why he was glaring at you so much, and he said...he said he was trying to figure out what you were, and why he couldn't _read your mind._"

My jaw dropped.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, staring at the road ahead. "And then I heard Alice question him about what he meant, but I couldn't hear what he said to her because it was too quiet."

"Did you hear anything else?" I asked.

"Not really. All I heard was Alice say that she could '_see_' you just fine, but I have no idea what she could have meant by that."

"So Edward can read minds?"

Em gave a one-shouldered shrug, "Apparently."

"So we have a Special around here, then," I smiled a little to myself. "Interesting."

"Don't get any ideas, now, Bella."

I looked at him innocently. "What ever do you mean?" Emmett opened his mouth to retort something, but I quickly shouted, "STOP!"

He hit the brakes as hard as he could and the massive Jeep came to a abrupt halt. "What the hell, Bella?"

"Look!" I pointed out the passenger side window.

"Is that a..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh my goodness, what could it possibly be? A bear? A turtle? A whale? A flying pineapple with angel wings? A pterodactyl?**

**All of the above?**

**AHAH. Tune in next time to see what it is. I bet it's nothing very interesting (even though I so totally shouldn't say that about my own story)...**

**I shouldn't even be updating since I only got one review which is totally sucky, but I don't care, I may as well put this story somewhere I guess... Anyway, so y'all should definitely leave me a...**

**REVIEW!**

_**- dawn mae**_


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